


This Is Why We're Single

by jacqstoned



Series: Zutara Week 2019 [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anniversary, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Idiots in Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 09:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20094769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacqstoned/pseuds/jacqstoned
Summary: It’s Sokka and Suki’s anniversary, and somehow, both Zuko and Katara end up helping them out with their gifts. Written for Zutara Week 2019, Day 4: Mentor. [Zutara modern AU]





	This Is Why We're Single

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn’t help it— I just had to write another modern AU in the universe of Project Proposal and I Did It For The Brownies. This one’s set during the time when the whole gang was still in college, and Zuko was still in law school. But, again, as with all the stories in this universe, this fic can stand alone if you haven’t read my other fics. Cheers!

“What did you _ do?” _

“It wasn’t my idea, Madame Fussy Britches,” Toph said, hands behind her head and feet on the makeshift coffee table, seemingly unaffected by the thick smoke blanketing the entire apartment they shared with Suki. 

“What exactly is ‘it’?” Katara coughed, leaving the door open and rushing to the kitchen, where most of the smoke was coming from. The fire extinguisher was gone from its usual corner— _that’s good; whoever started this knew how to end it— _and she spotted her brother’s lanky frame in the haze. 

_ Ugh, of course. _

“Why are you burning down our apartment?”

“Katara!” Sokka’s grin was too wide to be innocent as he made to hug her. “Heeey! How’s it going?”

Katara quickly dodged her brother’s hug and walked straight into the kitchen. She barely registered Zuko standing over the stove, fire extinguisher in hand, before the smoke cleared and she was assaulted with _ the biggest mess in the world. _

"SOKKA!" she gasped. "What the _ hell _ were you _ doing?!" _

"What does it look like?" Sokka had the nerve to reply haughtily amidst the piles of meat that were somehow both charred and raw. "I was _ cooking." _

_ "This," _ Katara said incredulously, holding up a pan with _ something _ stuck on it, "is _ cooking?" _

"Hey! Cut me some slack, sis, I was trying to do something nice!" Sokka replied, waving his arms around. Katara was not impressed.

"Making a massive mess is your idea of 'doing something nice'?" she said dryly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Gee, Sokka, how can we _ ever _repay you?"

"I didn't say it was for _ you!" _He slumped forward on an empty space on the kitchen counter and sighed tiredly as he wiped his brow with a dirty, slightly-smoldering dishrag. “I wanted to practice cooking dinner for Suki on our anniversary.”

“Couldn’t you just buy her a present, like a normal person?” asked Zuko, hefting the fire extinguisher on the counter beside Sokka, who nearly upended it when he explained his situation harriedly.

“We agreed we’d give each other homemade gifts this year!” he nearly wailed, gesturing desperately. “And, apparently, my drawings from my Building Design class don’t count!”

“I wonder why,” quipped Katara, but Sokka just turned on her in a sudden burst of inspiration. He clasped her hands in his and dramatically knelt before her.

“Katara! You _ gotta _help me!” he cried, shaking their joined hands. “My whole relationship is on the line!”

“I wouldn’t take it _ that _far,” Zuko muttered, but Sokka continued wiggling about in panic.

“Come on, sis, your whole thing is helping people!” he exclaimed. “Well, _ I _ need help! Please? Pretty pleeeeaaase?” 

Katara pressed a hand to her face in resignation. “Fine. What do you want from me?”

“You’re a girl! You know what handmade stuff girls like!”

_ “You’re _ the one dating Suki! _ You _know what she likes!” Katara replied, planting one hand on her hip and motioning for her brother to stand up from the floor caked with froth from the extinguisher. “Besides, Sokka, you’d be the one making it, so I don’t know how any of my suggestions would help.”

“You could teach me!” said Sokka enthusiastically, and Zuko snorted.

“No offence, buddy, but you’re not exactly the handiest person,” he said. “And your anniversary’s only about a week and a half away.”

“You could write her one of your poems,” Katara suggested, but Sokka shook his head adamantly.

“I write her poems all the time,” he said, tugging on his short ponytail self-consciously. “It’s not that special anymore, y’know?”

“What if you just buy her something that looks homemade and tell her you made it?” Zuko asked, and Katara smacked his arm.

“Zuko!” she admonished. “How could you even suggest that! Would _ you _treat your girlfriend that way?”

“Seeing as I don’t have one at the moment, no,” he replied sardonically. “Besides, _ I _know how to cook, so I wouldn’t have Sokka’s problem.”

“Speaking of Sokka’s problem,” Katara glared at her brother. “Will you please clean this up? _ Now?” _

“Aw, come on, sis, I’m really tired from all the meat experiments—”

“Don’t care, still your mess,” Katara said.

“You’ll just clean up all the stuff I clean up, anyway!” Sokka exclaimed. “What’s the point?”

“The point is,” Katara said sweetly, “I’m the one thinking of _ your _ anniversary gift, so if you want to give Suki something _ really _nice, you better get cracking.”

* * *

Zuko was watching TV with Aang in the girls’ apartment— it had somehow become their unofficial hangout place when it was still too early to drink— when his phone rang.

Now, normally, Zuko didn't answer phone calls unless it was from his uncle (who insisted that he was too old to text) but Suki's number was flashing on his screen and it was a rare enough occurrence as it is that he begrudgingly took the call.

"Zuko, don't say my name if you're in our apartment," she said hurriedly before he could even speak. "Pretend I'm somebody else."

"Oh, um, okay, uh, hi… hey, buddy," Zuko finished lamely, then winced when Aang sent him a questioning look. Suki huffed on the other end of the call.

"Great job, Zuko, we all know you have no other _ buddies _aside from us," said Suki with a sigh. "Just— can you meet me at Koh's Lair? Please?"

"Uh, okay, sure," Zuko answered, bewildered beyond belief. It wasn't that he wasn't friends with Suki, it was just he primarily knew her as Sokka's girlfriend, since they've already been together when he joined the gang, and he didn't really know what to talk about with her.

When he arrived at their usual bar, Suki was nursing what seemed to be her third drink. He raised an eyebrow at the margarita glasses on the table as he slid into their booth.

"Uh, what's— what's up?" he asked, and Suki sighed almost as dramatically as Sokka usually did.

"I can't think of anything handmade to give Sokka on our anniversary!" she exclaimed, dropping her head in her hands. "You're one of his best friends, what do you think I should get him?"

"I don't think—" Zuko coughed self-consciously, "I don't think I'm as close to him as Aang and Toph are."

"Trust me, I already asked those two," Suki said, gulping down her margarita with a roll of her eyes. "Aang's ideas are really terrible, and Toph's are worse because of all the dirty stuff she says. Please, Zuko, you gotta help me."

"I don't really know what he likes aside from meat," shrugged Zuko as he called for a waiter. "I don't know what you can do, too; no offence, but we haven't actually spent much time together."

"None taken," Suki waved a hand dismissively. "To be honest, I'm not that creative. I actually considered just giving him a bouquet of fried chicken."

"That could actually work, knowing Sokka," Zuko said, smirking.

"Oh, but is it a _ good _third-year anniversary present?" Suki asked, snatching her fourth margarita from the waiter. Zuko sipped his whiskey before answering honestly.

"I don't know," he said, pursing his lips. "I've never celebrated a third-year anniversary."

"Ugh!" Suki groaned and threw her hands up. "Great, this is just great. I can't believe Ty Lee and Katara convinced me you were a secret softie."

"You know Ty Lee?" asked Zuko, a little thrown off at the mention of his childhood friend's name to register Katara's. Suki just shrugged in reply.

"We're on the volleyball varsity team together," she explained. She sipped her margarita thoughtfully. "So, you honestly have no ideas for me at all?"

"I don't know how much Ty Lee told you," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "But the last girl I dated didn't really like getting gifts."

"Okay, but did you give her anything when you two dated?" 

"Uh…" Zuko downed his whiskey to cover the heat spreading across his cheeks. "I got her ice cream. And— and pretty seashells when we'd go to the beach. And, uh, I'd… I'd pick up some of her favorite fruit tarts from the bakery."

Suki gaped at him for such an uncomfortably long time that Zuko started to squirm.

"What?" he asked hotly. "I was in high school, okay! I thought that was what girls liked!"

Suki blinked at him and then burst into a fit of giggles. Zuko wanted to slam his head on the table.

"Oh my god," Suki laughed into her hands. "Oh, they were right. You _ are _a softie."

"Shut up," growled Zuko, which just made Suki laugh harder.

"Would you suggest I make Sokka a flower crown?" Suki said, her lips twitching as she fought a smirk. Zuko scowled at her.

"While we're at it, why don't you knit him a scarf?" he grumbled sarcastically, but Suki's eyes widened at the idea.

"That's not a bad idea," she said, and Zuko slapped a hand to his forehead.

"I was just joking!"

"Well, I'm not," said Suki, taking another margarita from the waiter. "I actually know how to knit a little bit, and Sokka's always complaining that he can't find the right accessory to match his clothes."

"Fine, it's your funeral," replied Zuko dryly. "Glad I could help."

* * *

"That's it!" Katara cried, startling both Toph and Aang as she slammed the door behind her. "I officially hate my brother!"

"What'd Snoozles do now, Fussy?" Toph said, languidly rolling on the couch and almost kicking Aang to the floor.

"He wants to make a _ necklace _ for Suki!" Katara exclaimed, throwing her books and her bag on the rickety coffee table. "With only three days left to their anniversary! And he wants _ me _to 'help'— which we all know is Sokka-speak for making me do all the work."

"Why don't you just tell him to do it himself?" Aang said, looking up from his philosophy paper. "Labors of love are always sweeter when hard-earned."

Toph chucked one of Katara's biology books at his head, which he dodged just in time.

"You've been spending _ way _too much time with Gramps, Twinkletoes."

"But it's true!" defended Aang, carefully setting aside the heavy book. "I don't see why Katara should do it when Sokka and Suki agreed they'd give each other handmade gifts."

"I know!" Katara said, flopping down on one of their lumpy armchairs. "And I don't know anything about making jewelry!"

"I can help you," Aang said earnestly, "Monk Gyatso and I used to make all sorts of stuff with wooden beads whenever we had to raise funds for the orphanage."

"Oh, that's sweet of you, Aang, but Sokka wants something like the one Gran-Gran has." Katara huffed. "He bought a kit, but Mr. Genius can’t figure out how to use it."

"Bet he'll make a _ great _engineer," Toph snarked. Katara laughed tiredly and picked up her things.

"Well, I have to get started on my org chem paper before I head over to Sokka's," she said, walking to the bedroom she shared with Suki.

"Oh, if you see Zuko there, can you tell him I can't make it to yoga tomorrow?" Aang called after her. "I, uh, have a group project."

"Group project, my ass," snorted Toph. "You're just gonna do PG-13 stuff with On Ji."

"I am _ not, _ Toph!"

"Just stick your tongue down her throat and get it over with, you wuss—"

Katara left them to their bickering and closed the door behind her. She'd barely gotten her stuff out on her desk before her phone pinged. She furrowed her brows when she saw it was a text from Zuko.

_ "Is Sokka coming over to your place?" _

_ "Nope," _ she texted back. _ "I was gonna go over to your apartment to meet him." _

He didn't reply after that, and she didn't expect him to. She'd learned over the years that Zuko was a man of few words and fewer texts.

She was surprised, though, when she heard Toph greet him from the living room. She pushed away her laptop and opened her door, only to see him standing just in front of it with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Is Suki here?" he asked, then looked behind her and got his answer. He sighed and lifted the bulging paper bag in his arms. "She asked me to pick these up for her."

"What are those?" Katara poked through the bag curiously and he lowered it so she could look. Her eyes lit up as she dug through the package. "Oh! Knitting stuff! What's it for?"

"Suki's handmade anniversary present," Zuko intoned, his voice suggesting that he was tired of it all. "She asked me to help her."

"You know how to knit?" called Toph from her perch on the couch, the mischievous smile evident in her tone. Zuko ran a hand down his face.

_ "No," _ he groaned and thrust the bag at Katara. "Do _ you _know how to knit?"

"Yeah! I love it!" Katara said gleefully, hugging the bag to her chest as though it was _ her _gift. "What are we knitting? Mittens? Beanies? Oooh! Sweaters?"

"Jeez, get a room, Sugar Queen," commented Toph.

"Suki wants to knit a scarf," Zuko answered, ignoring Toph. Katara grinned.

"That's easy! I could do that in a day!" she said, then deflated when she remembered. "Oh, but I have to do Sokka's gift, too."

"What _ is _he making?"

"A necklace like our Gran-Gran's," said Katara, "That's why I was supposed to come over to your place. He bought a kit with all the metal pieces like the chain and clasps and the pendant, but I'd need pliers and— and, well, I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I could do it," mused Zuko. "Uncle's always buying jewelry that needs to be repaired. I can borrow his tools."

"Hm," Katara hummed, looking longingly at the knitting materials in her arms. "They really should be the ones doing this…"

"We could do half and then have them finish it," shrugged Zuko. Katara considered it for a moment before nodding resolutely.

"It's a deal."

* * *

"Sokka! Not like that, moron, you're ruining the metal!" Zuko almost yelled. He was almost at his wit's end, and Sokka turned out to be the _ worst student ever _when it came to jewelry making.

"Wait, wait, I got it!" he crowed, only to have the delicate band snap, along with Zuko's patience.

"What kind of idiot are you!" he roared. "Didn't you _ hear _ me say _ a thousand times _ that you _ shouldn't _ twist it like that?!"

"Okay, cool it, Hotman," Sokka raised his hands to his shoulders. He then grinned hugely and gestured to the small, scattered pieces on their kitchen counter. "There's still _ lots _of these little link thingies left! So what if it's a little shorter?"

"A _ little _ shorter?!" Zuko repeated incredulously. "You messed up _ nine _of these, Sokka! If it gets any shorter, you could kill Suki from asphyxiation!"

Sokka pouted at him and crossed his arms, hunching in on himself.

"I don't like you like this," he complained, casting Zuko a rueful glance. "You're a mean teacher."

"I'm not being _ mean, _I just want you to learn!" Zuko exclaimed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "And, apparently, it's impossible!"

"Hey! I learn quickly in a _ fun, conducive _ environment!" countered Sokka. _ “You’re _ just being a _ terrible _teacher!”

They frowned at each other for a moment, then Sokka broke the silence.

"Wanna forget about this stuff and go grab a drink?"

Zuko sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.

"Yeah, let's go," he said resignedly. "But you're going to learn how to do this stupid project _ tomorrow, _no excuses."

"Man, I can’t believe you're _ this _ strict, Professor Grumpy," Sokka said laughingly, clapping him on the shoulder. 

"And I can't believe you're actually at the top of your class, you idiot," Zuko grumbled in response.

* * *

Katara was a patient person in general. She would have to be, what with all the antics that Toph, Aang, and her brother got into. And when she _ did _reach her limit, she would usually just tell them all off for whatever trouble they caused.

Never in her life had she imagined stabbing them with knitting needles, but Suki tested her patience to _ a whole other level. _

"Suki, remember what I told you?" she asked in the sweetest voice she could muster. "Remember, we did this twelve rows ago. You just need to pull the new thread through the last row, like I showed you, remember?"

Suki nodded, totally engrossed in her work, then confidently tied a knot at the end of the row. Katara smacked a hand to her head.

"Suki! You _ never _tie knots unless you're done with the whole thing!" she cried, snatching the unfinished scarf from her roommate. She inspected the haphazard stitches meticulously. "This was just the first row!"

"Well, it's been a while since I knitted anything!" Suki said with a shrug. "I couldn't even remember half the things you told me to do!"

"Oh, I guess we can continue this tomorrow," said Katara, itching for a break from both Suki and the uneven stitching that was now permanently bound to _ her own perfect work. _"Wanna go check if the guys are at the bar?"

"I could still work on it!" Suki said earnestly, trying to reach for the scarf, but Katara quickly stuffed it— needles and all— under her pillow. Suki grimaced at her. "I'm not doing a good job, aren't I?"

_ "Nooo, _ you're doing _ great," _Katara lied through her teeth, but Suki was not fooled. 

"Ugh, I really thought I was still good at it," she sighed, placing her head in her hands. Katara patted her back comfortingly. 

"Well, I'm sure Sokka will love it no matter what it looks like," Katara said soothingly, but Suki just groaned.

* * *

Zuko took a deep breath and let it out slowly through his mouth. Then he whirled on Sokka.

"Okay," he took a deep breath again and pointed to a section he made. "Okay, just look at how I looped these two together. If you insist on doing what you're doing now, the two wouldn't stay together once gravity pulls them down. Okay?"

"Okay…" Sokka, with the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, twisted the thin band painstakingly slowly _ in the wrong direction. _

"SOKKA!"

_ "What! _I was doing it like you said!"

"Were you dropped on the head as a child? How is this so hard for you to do!"

"You're being mean again! You owe me a bottle of beer!"

_ "Fine!" _

"Y'know what," Sokka said, tapping the pliers to his chin thoughtfully, "We have to try doing this when drunk."

"Sokka," Zuko resisted the urge to slap the upside of his roommate's head. "You can't even do this sober."

"My creative genius might come out!"

This time, Zuko did slap him on the upside of his head.

* * *

"Suki! Were you even counting your stitches?"

Suki scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"I… kinda zoned out." She grimaced at the disbelieving look Katara gave her. "Sorry! I was tired from volleyball practice, and this is oddly therapeutic!"

"You lost a lot of stitches! And you're pulling too hard on the thread!" Katara said, brandishing Suki's handiwork. "This is supposed to be a _ scarf, _Suki, not a tie!"

"It could be both?" Suki said with a wince. 

"Suki, I love you, but right now, I kinda want to poke you in the eye with this knitting needle."

* * *

"Next time I complain about being single, remind me of this stupid anniversary crap that Suki and Sokka put us through," Katara told Zuko as she slumped beside him on the couch in his apartment. 

"Are you hiding from Suki?" Zuko asked, drinking the beer he stole from Sokka.

"Yeah," Katara replied, pushing her hair out of her face. "You know she and Sokka are at my place?"

"Yep," Zuko said, propping his feet up on the coffee table and drinking the last drops of Sokka’s beer. "I'm hiding from Sokka."

“Got tired of trying to teach him how to use pliers?” Katara asked, reaching across Zuko's lap to also steal a beer from Sokka's cooler.

Zuko hummed and nodded.

"I know I'm gonna sound like Toph," continued Katara, "But this whole anniversary thing is just cheesy and lame!"

"Tell me about it," said Zuko, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Why do they have to make such a big deal out of it?"

"I know!" Katara cried, nudging her beer bottle into Zuko's hands in a silent request for him to open it. "I mean, we've been friends for a little over a year, why aren't we celebrating that?"

"Yeah," Zuko handed over her bottle and grabbed a fresh one for himself. "When this is all done, we should celebrate."

"Yeah," agreed Katara, clinking her bottle with his. "To our friendship! And to surviving Suki and Sokka's stupid couple ideas."

"They should be ones celebrating the fact that they survived _ us," _ said Zuko. "I almost put your brother's head through the wall."

"I almost put Suki's eye out," admitted Katara, giggling. 

"They're so stupid, they're perfect for each other," Zuko said, a small smirk on his face.

"And they both insist they're right all the time!" Katara added with a roll of her eyes. "This project is basically just the two of them stubbornly sticking to a plan that they could've just given up on."

"They could've just seen a movie and grabbed dinner or something!" said Zuko, gesturing with his beer. Katara took a swig of hers and nodded.

"They're so high-maintenance!" she complained. "All those date nights they have, all the poems and the cutesy nicknames—"

"All the late-night phone calls— as if they don't see each other enough during the day—"

"Ugh, I don't understand them," concluded Katara. "I don't want all that stuff if I ever get a boyfriend."

Zuko scoffed at that, and Katara shoved his shoulder.

"’I’m serious!" she insisted. "I don't need all that stuff— I just need someone I can just go home to and be comfortable with, you know? Maybe someone who could cook dinner for me once in a while—"

“So you want a chef?” said Zuko with a slight smirk. Katara stuck her tongue out at him.

“I didn’t mean it like that! I just want someone who'll listen to my rants and tell me about their day—"

"You already do that with us," interrupted Zuko, and Katara shot him an exasperated look.

"It's not the same!" Katara said. “Yeah, I want someone that I could talk to for hours, like a friend, but— but, I don’t know, I also want someone who could make me feel all warm and fuzzy by just doing small, sweet things for me.”

"Huh, so _ that's _ why you're single," Zuko said, smirking fully now. "You still believe there's some guy out there who's just _ perfect _for you."

Katara gasped in indignation.

"I do _ not," _ she retorted hotly. "I'm just being realistic! I don't have as much free time as Suki and Sokka _ and _ I'm trying to get into med school— I have to date someone who doesn't need all the lovey-dovey stuff 'cause I'll be too busy to do all of them!"

"I know what you mean," agreed Zuko, finishing off his beer. "That's why I'm not dating anyone right now— I just started law school; I can't do all that high-maintenance stuff."

"I didn't realize that being single was a _ choice _for you," snarked Katara, and Zuko glared at her.

"I can get a girlfriend if I wanted to, you know," he grumbled sulkily, but Katara just laughed him off.

"Oh please, like you're even trying!" she replied, gesturing at him with her bottle. "Here you are, on a weekend, drinking Sokka's beer with _ me _ when you could be at Koh's Lair picking up girls and stuff."

"I don't like 'picking up girls'," said Zuko with a frown. "That kind of thing just feels fake, somehow. I wouldn’t want to date someone I just ‘picked up’."

“I could set you up with one of my classmates,” Katara offered. “I know for a fact that Song has a _ huge _crush on you.”

“Who’s Song?” asked Zuko, bewildered.

“Zuko!” Katara exclaimed in disbelief. “You’ve met her, like, a dozen times when you came over to our place!”

“Well, whatever, I still don’t like being set up!” Zuko shot back. “It’s just weird and uncomfortable! I want to be with someone I feel connected to, and that will _ not _happen if I’m on a blind date!”

“How _ will _you find a girlfriend, then?” asked Katara. “Were you just planning on stumbling across one on the sidewalk?”

“No,” said Zuko petulantly. “I just want to get to know her first— _ without _the pressure of it turning into a full-blown relationship.”

Katara silently sipped her beer beside him.

"Huh," she finally said, "So _ that's _why you're single. You have commitment issues."

"How can you _ say _that!" Zuko shot forward, throwing his hands in the air. "I know how to commit! I just don't want to commit to the wrong person! What if it doesn’t work out and I just wasted my time? If I’m ever gonna date anyone again, I at least want it to be serious."

"Aww, I _ knew _you were secretly a softie," giggled Katara, poking him on the cheek. He scowled and batted her hand away.

"It's not just that!" he protested. "I mean— no, I am _ not _a softie! It's just— ugh, never mind."

"Oh, come on, tell me!" Katara said, poking him on the cheek again. He caught her wrist before she could poke him a third time.

"You'll just make fun of me."

"Oh, I will," Katara assured him, still trying to tug her wrist from his grasp, "But I still wanna know."

Zuko frowned at her then let go of her hand. He slumped back into the cushions resignedly and covered his eyes with his hand.

"I find it hard to open up to people," he muttered. "So, I, uh— I want to date someone who knows me well enough and doesn’t expect me to— to make grand gestures, or, or to do the usual relationship stuff, because it’s just not easy for me to _ do. _I just want someone who’s— just, y’know, someone who doesn’t mind that I can be a little awkward and maybe a little hot-headed sometimes—”

“Sometimes?” repeated Katara incredulously. 

“Fine! All the time, then!” retorted Zuko. “Point is, I just want someone who understands me, that’s all.”

Katara studied him closely while taking a long drink from her beer. Then she huffed in amusement.

"And here you were making fun of me because I want to find the perfect guy," Katara pointed out, her eyes glinting. "We're practically the same."

"We are _ not _the same!" Zuko exclaimed. "You— you have a checklist for what you want in a guy—"

"Hey, I just said I wanted a low-key relationship with someone I was comfortable with! That's not a checklist!" Katara retorted, finishing her beer.

"Well, _ I _just said I wanted someone who can tolerate me well enough. That's not a checklist, either," replied Zuko, crossing his arms over his chest.

Katara mimicked his posture and glared at him for a moment, before bursting into laughter and leaning into the cushions beside him. Zuko grinned and followed suit, cracking open two more bottles of beer for both of them.

"God, we're pathetic," Katara said, still laughing. "Even _ Aang's _ dating someone, and we can't even get off the couch and find dates because we want _ such _unattainable things in our partners.”

"And _ that's _why we're single."

* * *

"What do you mean, the plan's cancelled?" Katara almost yelled at her phone. Toph poked her head out of her room disgruntledly, hair sticking out at all angles, and Zuko and Aang looked up from the video game they were playing on the girls’ console. 

"I mean, sis, Suki and I are just gonna go out to dinner at this fancy place we’ve been meaning to try," said Sokka on the other line. "She's getting ready for her tournament and I have my Structural Theory final, so we decided we didn't really have time to make any gifts for each other."

"And yet you had _ us _make those gifts for you!" Katara cried with a stomp of her foot.

“We’re so sorry, Katara,” Suki jumped in, her voice nearly drowned out by the sound of traffic on their end. “We’ll make it up to you and Zuko, we promise!”

Then the call ended, just like that. Katara fumed silently for a moment before grabbing a pillow from their couch and screaming into it.

“What’s all this drama?” asked Toph, swaggering into the living room in her sleep clothes. “I was trying to sleep, Sugar Queen.”

“Sokka and Suki,” replied Zuko tartly. “Apparently they cancelled their ‘homemade gifts’ plan at the last minute.”

“I _ cannot believe _those two!” wailed Katara, throwing herself onto the couch and plopping her socked feet on Zuko’s lap. “And to think I had to teach Suki how to knit!”

“And I had to teach Sokka how to make jewelry,” Zuko added, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I had to finish the entire thing, too, otherwise I would’ve gone insane.”

“Same here!” cried Katara, “I actually made a whole other scarf and threw away the first one! What the hell am I supposed to do with it now? Toph, do _ you _want it?”

Toph crossed her arms over her chest and scowled disgustedly.

“Keep your handmade gifts to yourself, Sweetness.”

“But I don’t really like wearing scarves, and it doesn’t go with any of my clothes, so I can’t keep it.”

“I’ve got the same problem, except it’s with a necklace,” said Zuko sardonically. He pulled his bag closer and one-handedly opened it, trying not to jostle Katara’s legs. He pulled out a box and glanced in Toph’s direction. “I’m guessing you don’t want my handmade stuff, too, Toph.”

“I could take the scarf, but, uh,” Aang scratched the back of his head. “On Ji knows I used to have a crush on Katara, so she might get a bit jealous.”

“You could just give ‘em to each other,” suggested Toph, yawning hugely and plopping down on the floor.

Zuko and Katara exchanged a look.

“That could work,” said Katara, leaning over Zuko to grab the gift-wrapped scarf on the table. She presented it to him with a flourish. “Happy friend-aversary.”

Zuko grinned lopsidedly at her and gave her the box containing the necklace. 

“Happy friend-aversary.”

“Oh, barf, are we doing that now?” commented Toph. “Count me _ out.” _

“Well, I think it’s a great idea!” said Aang gleefully. He nudged Zuko’s side, a huge smile on his face. “Zuko, our six-month friend-aversary’s coming up! You better get me something nice!”

“Well, now that you put it that way, if I’m gonna get a gift, I want cash,” said Toph imperiously. ”And how ‘bout we celebrate _ twice _a year?” 

“How ‘bout we just don’t celebrate friend-aversaries _ at all,” _Zuko countered. 

“Yeah, we get enough of that mess with Sokka and Suki,” Katara agreed absently, taking the necklace out of its box. “Zuko, this is _ gorgeous! _It looks just like Gran-Gran’s necklace!”

“It’s a little bit short, though,” said Zuko, tearing open the gift-wrapping on his scarf. “Sokka broke a few links.”

“Yeah, but it still looks beautiful,” said Katara, admiring the bright blue gem in the pendant. “Did you add something to the pendant? It didn’t look this great when I saw it right out of the kit.”

“I polished it a little,” Zuko said with a shrug, shaking the emerald green scarf out of the package. “Hey, this isn’t bad. I could actually wear this in class.”

“Yeah, I got rid of all the tassels that Suki wanted to add,” Katara said, struggling while putting on the necklace. Zuko slung the scarf around his neck and reached over, gathering her hair up for her wordlessly. Katara smiled up at him and thanked him.

Aang raised an eyebrow and nudged Toph.

“Are they sure they don’t want to celebrate this yearly?” he muttered. “‘Cause they seem like they’re really enjoying this.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Twinkletoes, they’re both stupid and stubborn as hell,” Toph replied. “It’s why they’re both still single.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is so, so late, but I have a full-time job and it’s my first time participating in Zutara Week; I didn’t think it would be this hard! I really enjoyed writing Suki and Zuko’s scene together, since we didn’t see them interact much on the show. I also hope I didn’t make Zuko seem too harsh when he was teaching Sokka— I was basing this on all of the times that Zuko trained Aang, but only in a higher level, since Sokka is more of his equal and less of his student. Also, for all those who are curious about the timeline of this fic’s series, I suggest you read I Did It For The Brownies after this, and then Project Proposal, even though I actually uploaded them in reverse. Anyway, please tell me what you guys think of this!


End file.
